‘Private investors need to invest in Ghana’s Climate Actions’

By
Lydia Kukua Asamoah, GNA

Accra, March 27, GNA –
Mrs Angelina Ama Tutuah Mensah, the Environmental Communication and Head of
Public Relations at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has urged
private investors to invest in Ghana’s national climate actions, also known as
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

She mentioned,
especially, the NDCs that impact on the health and job creation sectors, saying
it would be beneficial to investors, citizens and government alike.

Ghana has budgeted
22.6 billion dollars to implement its 31 climate actions, expecting to use 10
billion dollars of the amount to implement its mitigation actions, while 12
billion dollars would be used for adaptation actions.

The country is also
expected to mobilise six billion dollars out of the amount from domestic
sources while 16 billion dollars would be mobilised from international sources.

The Gh-NDCs covers
seven economic sectors with 20 mitigation and 11 adaptation actions, including
water, agriculture, forestry, energy, transportation and gender.

In an interview with
the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mrs Mensah, who is also a UN Climate
Negotiator/Gender and Climate Change Focal Person, said any investor that did
not invest in Ghana’s NDCs would be throwing money into the drains.

She particularly asked
investors to launch unto Ghana’s quest to go into electrical vehicles and
invest in that sector since it had “huge investment potentials with huge
returns in the long run, reducing carbons and creating a good environment for
the health of the people”.

Commenting on the just
ended Africa Climate Week (ACW) hosted in Ghana from March 18 to 22, Mrs Mensah
said the high point of the conference was the opening of the high level
session, where President Akufo-Addo called on the international community to
assist Africa in funding the NDCs.

“I think that the
President’s voice is enough to bring in investors,” Mrs Mensah said.

“In the health and job
creation senses, any investor should be encouraged to launch onto Ghana’s NDCs
and put his money there – yes the money is huge, but it would take the boldness
of the business and international communities to partner African governments in
implementing the NDCs”.

Mrs Mensah said by
hosting the ACW, Ghana exposed her NDCs to the world, especially, the private
sector, and expressed the hope that the Government’s efforts at mobilising both
domestic and international funds to propel its implementation from 2020 to 2030
would yield results.

The theme for the ACW
was: “Climate Action in Africa: A Race We Can Win.”

The NDCs are each
country’s national action plans to deal with climate change challenges by
putting the globe into low carbon pathway and climate resilient future.

GNA